In the fall of 2010, my wife, Carmina Cunningham, was just beginning to chart a promising new course for herself and her recently blended family.

Carmina, a sixth-grade teacher at Adelaide Price Elementary in Anaheim, and I decided to split the distance between our respective places of work (myself working in Oceanside) by making permanent port in San Clemente. With our four children from previous marriages we invested in a modest fixer-upper a block from Bonita Canyon Park and a short walk from North Beach.

As an active and community-oriented couple with a crew of energetic kids, we were looking forward to navigating the city's trail system, exploring downtown, relaxing at the beach and being a positive presence in their neighborhood.

At the time, such pursuits seemed routine. These days, after a health crisis that threatened to deprive her of such simple pleasures, Carmina now appreciates how fortunate she is to be able to enjoy all that San Clemente has to offer.

In August 2010, while removing a mirror as part of a renovation of her new home, Carmina slashed her left knee to the bone, a nasty cut requiring more than 25 stitches and a leg splint that left her with limited mobility for several weeks. The knee injury turned out to be only the first unsettling gust in a developing storm – one that would not only challenge Carmina's positive outlook on life, but also her physical ability to balance motherhood, a teaching career and a host of projects essential to making the family's new home a livable space.

After a slew of uncomfortable symptoms, not relieved by over-the-counter medications, she began making visits to the doctor.

Confused, in pain, and losing her characteristic buoyancy, Carmina began to wonder if she would ever be able to fully enjoy the secure and comfortable abode that she and I were fashioning for our new family. What she anticipated as a second chance at domestic bliss appeared to be slowly drowning in a vortex of uncertainty.

After nearly six months of worry, fatigue and nearly constant intestinal distress, Carmina was sent to a specialist, who ordered a colonoscopy. A diagnosis was rendered mere minutes after she came out of the anesthetic fog: ulcerative colitis. While not curable, Carmina's condition was treatable, and, as she would soon learn, not nearly as acute and recalcitrant as other forms of inflammatory bowel disease.

In summer 2012, Carmina saw an ad for the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half Marathon. She noticed an organization called The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America was one of the race sponsors.

Carmina joined Team Challenge, the foundation's endurance training and fundraising program. Guided and encouraged by an experienced endurance coach provided by the foundation, Carmina and fellow members of the South Orange County Chapter of Team Challenge began more than three months of training, to ready themselves to join 30,000 competitors pounding the pavement at night under the glittering lights of the Las Vegas Strip. Roughly twice a week, Carmina and her cohorts gathered at venues like Aliso and Wood Canyons Park and the San Clemente Beach Trail, where they were not only put through their paces by Coach Rendy Williams, but also schooled on nutrition, hydration, equipment and injury prevention.

Last December, with me running alongside, Carmina charged through the 13-mile course in a little more than two hours, raising more than $4,500 for inflammatory bowel disease research along the way. Together, Carmina and her South Orange County teammates brought in more than $33,000. Again with Team Challenge, she is now in training for the Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon in July.

Far from being capsized by her illness, Carmina finds that she has more wind in her sails today than she did before her diagnosis. With the help of Team Challenge, she is skirting the doldrums and, in so doing, encouraging others to choose a forward tack, regardless of how turbulent their circumstances may be.

–Submitted by Russ Cunningham, husband and No. 1 fan of Carmina Cunningham. Learn more about Team Challenge at ccteamchallenge.force.com.

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